Bottle Rockets: A Science Project

Water Bottle Rocket

To make a water bottle rocket you will need to gather:

1. 16 ounce water bottle
2. Open space

Follow these steps to launch the rocket:

1. Open the water bottle and empty it completely.
2. Place the cap back onto the water bottle, but keep it a little bit loose.
3. Twist the water bottle in the middle a few times.
4. Begin untwisting the bottle cap, slowly. It will shoot, so be sure to point it away from people and in an open space.

Soda Bottle Rocket

You will need the following items to make your soda bottle rocket:

1. 2 Liter soda bottle
2. Cork
3. Air pump
4. Water
5. Funnel
6. Construction paper
7. Tape
8. Open space

Follow the directions below to launch your soda bottle rocket:

1. Open a 2 liter bottle of soda and empty it out. Pour the soda into a pitcher for later use, if desired.
2. Use a funnel to pour water into the bottom of the soda bottle. It should be about 1/4 full with water.
3. Place the cork through the needle of the air pump and make sure the needle is sticking out a little.
4. Squeeze the cork into the top of the soda bottle.
5. Add decorations to the bottom half of the soda bottle for fun. You can use construction paper and tape to make the soda bottle look like a rocket with engines.
6. Go to an area with open space. This must be somewhere outside because the rocket will fly pretty far and it is not safe inside of a house.
7. Prop the rocket onto a small board and begin pumping with the air pump. Have everyone stand back.
8. Watch the soda bottle rocket take off after you have pumped enough air into it.

This experiment will teach students about air pressure and how it works. Students that want to use this project for a science fair should try using more water and less water to see if the rocket will still fly as far. They may also want to see if it takes more pumps from the air pump with more and less water within the soda bottle.